The Maine Viking Conquers the Arizona Monster

OUR FIRST EVER REPEAT GUEST! 

"Have I really just run 300 miles? Honestly, it felt impossible — until I decided to do it." 🏃‍♂️💥

On the pod, Jason shared what that journey actually looked like: signing up based off a dream — desert heat, rattlesnakes, sleepless nights, and a full-on mental battle. Every step, every challenge pushed him further than he thought possible. It wasn’t about beating anyone else. It was about facing his own limits and seeing what level of mental toughness he truly had deep within. That mindset — that mental toughness — is what carried him across the finish line. And maybe that’s the point. It’s not about running 300 miles. It’s about proving to yourself that you’re capable of more than you think.

Nothing worth doing is easy… but it’s always worth it. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:14

Welcome back to the show. Today's episode is going to be a wild one. We've got our first repeat guest, the main Viking. Jason just finished a very tough, I would say brutal, Arizona Monster 300 Ultra race. And if you've never heard of it, this race is exactly what it sounds like. It's hundreds of miles through punishing desert terrain, heat climbs, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and everything in between. So I was watching videos while you were racing, Jason, and then I've gone back and looked at YouTube videos of other people that have finished this race, and it just looks insane. So we're talking like rocky trails, endless suffering, mental battles. I know at one point you came into like head-to-head on with a rattlesnake. So today we want to hear all about that story, not just like the perfect finish line moment, but everything in between. I'm sure there were injuries, I'm sure there were lows amongst the highs and setbacks. So today we're going to talk about what it mentally and physically took for you to take this race on.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Jason, welcome back to the well, thank you guys for having me back. I'm uh really excited to share my story with you. This was a big endeavor that uh I had in my head for a little while and I made it happen. So I guess I can take you back to when the idea was born. And so the last time I was on, my wife was with me and we discussed about our ultra-running lifestyle. And nothing's changed. Um, we were in Nepal last year at this time running a race in Mustang, Nepal. And at the same time, I saw this race that had its inaugural start, the Arizona Monster 300. And I thought, hmm, maybe that's where I need to be in a year from now. So I kind of kept tabs on it a little bit while I was in Nepal when I had Wi-Fi. And um, you know, it kind of came and went, and I'm like, huh, maybe someday. Well, fast forward to November of last year, I decided to run 100 miles for my birthday, just on my own willpower, just around my neighborhood. I wanted to do it just just to just because I wanted to see if I was mentally at this next stage to take a leap into something bigger. And so I ran 100 miles pretty effortlessly, just thought, wow, my mind is really in a new place. I want to try something that seems impossible. So I asked my wife, I'm like, hey, for Christmas and maybe the rest of the rest of the holidays, will you sign me up for this 300-mile race in the desert? And she kind of said, sure. And I was like, you know, playing along. Yeah. And then a few days go by, she goes, I'll I'll sign you up for that race for real. And I was like, uh oh. Okay. She's like, let's let's get you signed up, you know, so you don't back out. So, okay. So uh, you know, uh December comes and I get a check for Christmas from my wife for the entry fee, um, with taxes included. So I was in.

SPEAKER_05 3:19

That's so awesome.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Signed up. Um, I had a lot to work to do uh this winter as far as you know keeping my regular training consistent. I don't train specifically, I kind of keep a high volume of of working out not so many miles, but consistently. I work out every day. And so I knew I had to do some type of a stepping up for trying to take on 300 miles. And not to mention, it is in Arizona, it's gonna be hot. Um, reading the the handbook like it's a college exam. And I've never studied for anything so hard in my life. So knowing I have to prepare for the distance, the huge heat swings, a hundred during the day, it could be as cold as you know the teens at night because it's desert and it just when the sun goes down, it gets it's supposed to get cold.

unknown 4:13

Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

So I did a lot of training this winter. Um, I ran in sub-zero temperatures um every time I ran. It just was such a brutal winter here in Maine. And um I just I would increase my elevation training at the gym on a stair stepper, and I did a mile at night or two on incline treadmill just to kind of get some more elevation, and I would wear a weighted vest that was about the similar weight to my hydration pack because I knew I was gonna have a 15 to 20 pound pack going into the desert. So hindsight, I wish I would have trained a little bit more with a weighted vest because 20 pounds is a lot when you're carrying it for a week.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

First of all, are there any qualifications needed to sign up for this race, or can anyone just sign up?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

So they have a this race, surprisingly, did not sell out. Last year was the first year, assuming this next year people would want to tackle it, right? Because it's it's like the trend. Things are publicized, social media blows it up, everybody wants to do the biggest thing. But it wasn't, it was not selling out, so it kind of put a fear in me like, wow, this must be really hard. Yeah. And so looking at the qualifications, it stresses this is a graduate level race. Don't and plus you're a financial commitment, so you're gonna waste a lot of money if you are not ready for this, right? So and logistically, it costs a lot because I got fairfare, I've got rental car and accommodations, and not to mention the fuel I had to prep for. So, like I said, I did a lot of research. I've never counted my calories in my life for a race like this one. So I really had to like plan out in between aid station stops like my drop bags. So no, no qualifications in particular. They just stress that, hey, yeah, have you done anything like this before? Which I haven't. I've done hundred milers, which which which I've done a lot of them, but this was a whole class of its own of multi-day events.

SPEAKER_02 6:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

And so so kind of scared going into some of these things of the unknown, but but I I was ready. I I wanted to do it.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

And is it an unsupported race? So you talked about carrying 20 20-pound hydration pack. Did you have to carry everything you needed?

SPEAKER_01 6:35

So I had to, you have 12 drop bags if you choose. And this is set up so solo runners can do this without a crew, without a pacer. So there's 19 aid stations, and 12 of those you have gear drops. So I could pre-plan where my shoes were gonna be. I could pre-pro pre-plan tentatively, you know. I based it on my hundred-mile finishes, kind of how I counted my calories, kind of how I counted my, you know, when I would change, you know, to be calculated.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Yeah. Um so Okay, I didn't mean those were the questions that popped up, but if you just yeah, take us there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Yeah. So, so yeah, so the calories I planned on packing 30,000 calories, about 10,000 per 100 miles is how I set up my drop bags. So my drop bags were preset anywhere from 12 miles to 21 miles apart. And so you kind of have to plan for tentatively how many calories can you carry from aid station to aid station. I didn't I didn't count for any meals or anything at the aid station, just what am I gonna do when I'm on my feet? Do I have enough calories to get through the miles? So that's that's really what I thought about. And I planned on carrying four and a half liters of water, which is about 10 pounds on its own. Plus, you have mandatory gear that you're required to carry. You have to have thermal gear, you have to have a coat, you had to have pants, a bivy, um, emergency calories that you're not supposed to tap into, and um a couple of survival things, whistle, yeah, um, uh thermal layer. So, you know, a lot of that takes up so much volume and space. So now I'm buying, I'm buying a 20-liter hydration pack, which you know goes into the cost of things. You can't do this with a two-liter pack. It just it doesn't, it's not gonna work logistically. So yeah, I did everything as far as I could to give myself the advantages. Besides having a crew and pacer, I went to the desert by myself.

SPEAKER_03 8:31

So you had who did you have for a crew and pacer?

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Nobody. I I planned it so you I chose not to. So everything that I could for my own personal advantage, I took the advantage of all the drop bags. And um my wife could have come out, but she probably would have only seen me about six times.

SPEAKER_03 8:49

And I would looking at you. You can't see each other.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

No, and in the the distances between the aid stations are like half a day. Yeah. So so it would be pointless. You'd be wasting time sitting in the desert, and I just I'm like, I'm not gonna put you through that. I normally I wanted this, and yeah. And she wouldn't have been able to pace me because then what is she gonna do? She needs someone to bring her out.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

Right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

So this was you know solely for me, and I I wish she could have done this with me. I think this is something that we're gonna do on our future together, hopefully, with you know, other distances, but but I take you to the race. Um, I I really had everything as far as lined up as I could. I flew out there two days early to kind of set my sleep schedule because it is three hours behind and just kind of acclimate to the heat. And a little did I know Arizona was gonna have a heat wave. And it was triple digits, it was triple digits.

SPEAKER_05 9:48

Holy shit.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

So about 15 degrees hotter than normal. Uh 85 is still hot, but 100 just feels so different.

SPEAKER_03 9:55

Well, and I think I mean 85 is still hot, but we're talking you just came off of main winter, so it feels hot.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

I mean, it was still single digits here while I was there.

SPEAKER_03 10:05

It's wild.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Um, so you know, I get to the race. I'm not really intimidated by the weather because I'm like, I know this is gonna be hot. It's it is what it is. You know, I I'm good at you know dealing with conditions. I've run in all weather, I've done hot races before. I I really couldn't re I don't do sauna, and I could have, but I don't think it would have changed my my my feel. I got in the hot tub every day, you know, it raises my blood temperature, but did it help? Maybe, but probably not.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

So for cleaning, that's really all you did. The sa the hot tub.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Just a hot tub.

SPEAKER_02 10:41

Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

So breathing in hot air. I have a like an Amazon sauna, but I just didn't bother with it because it doesn't really give you that. It's like breathing in hot water. I don't really it's not really that fun.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

No, no. Um, did you put on you talked about your calories and I whatever I jumped ahead, but did you bring salt tablets? Like, did you have a plan for salt?

SPEAKER_01 11:04

I was part of my electrolyte packet. So I also did bring I brought this stuff called Formula 369, which is a it's you can really put a lot of scoops into your water and it saturates really well. And so I trained with that. I did a race earlier in in February and I tried running with that. Didn't make me nauseous, didn't make me sick. It gave me calories as well as electrolytes, so I knew those would be bonus liquid calories. Yeah, okay. So that was all just kind of guesstimated.

unknown 11:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

I was just like, maybe this will be good enough. I there was not really a calculation for electrolytes.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

And the day you showed up to the race, like the day the race started, you felt good. You felt like you'd planned as much as you could and your body felt.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Okay, that's good.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Super intimidated when I arrived to race day, or at least bib pickup, and then there's this kind of like the elite of the elites on social media out there. I met Andy Glaze, super cool guy. I met Eli Webb, super cool guy. Like, I'm around all these people that have like a social media team. They have film crew, they there's there's RVs, campers, just team, sponsored runners, and I'm like, oh, what did I get myself into? You know? So, but you know, I just kept to myself. I uh went through all the the checks and balances, did my med check. You know, they asked, hey, have you done this before? What's your sleep strategy? Here's your bib, here's your GPS tracker. We'll see you at the start line tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

Explain the med check.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

What is what are they giving you? So they ask you kind of questions like, have you ever had injuries running before? Have you ever been sick running before? Right. Kind of your background check. I had to fill out a big medical form, kind of like you'd get at the doctor's office with any medication and stuff, but they wanted to speak with you one-on-one. You kind of, hey, you've never done this before, make sure you sleep. It's really important in one of these events because when I do a hundred miler, there's no sleep. You just kind of hammer them out. So just different world. Um, they ask you how do you prepare your feet? How do you make sure you have sunscreen, just kind of basic knowledge? They give you some pointers and they tell you, we don't want to medically pull anybody. We're gonna do all that we can to keep you in this race. We're gonna make you sleep, we're gonna make you eat, drink. We don't want anyone to fail. So, right off the back, I feel like they all have your back here. They want you to succeed. So, destination trail races have nothing but the best about them. Everything is perfect.

SPEAKER_03 13:28

Put on the event destination trail.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Destination trail. Yep, their staff, their volunteers, top notch.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

So the race, so I started at the finish line to get on a shuttle bus. So this is for solo runners. I start at the finish line, I get on there about 6 a.m. and then they take you on a three-hour ride north to the start line. So I'm like, okay, the game is just get back to this rental car. Yeah, life is good. So in my head, that was my finish. So I'm like, I just gotta get to my rental car. I don't have a plane ticket for seven days. Yeah. That's that's why I'm here.

SPEAKER_05 14:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

So um get to the start line, and it's a hundred degrees. Like it's just a furnace.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

And you know, we had like is that in the early in the morning?

SPEAKER_01 14:15

It started at noon. No, it started at the heat of the day. Oh, so from from 10 to 12 is runner check-in to be in the shoot because the gun goes up at 12, and then you have 170 hours to complete it.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

So I'm just kind of sitting in the shade. I call my wife, you know, she's encouraging me and telling me, hey, you got this, you know, you you've trained really hard. As hard as one could train for something like this. Yeah, you know, you put in the time, you know, you've got it. So she gives my gave me really good confidence, you know, patting me on the back, and she really helped me with my winter training, keeping me on task, like, hey, get this big event, go do some extra miles, go do this. Yeah. So really pushing me, really making me feel good and confident about myself. And um, so I towed the line in a smart position because typically I'm a front pack runner, and I knew right away that's not the objective here. There's no racing anybody. This is Jason's mission to run 300 miles. I don't care about anybody else. So I put myself mid-pack, probably in the perfect spot because I wasn't gonna start off walking. I was gonna start off kind of just kind of feeling everybody out.

SPEAKER_05 15:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

And it starts you on a one mile section of road. Everybody kind of funnels in line, finds their place, and I kind of hung there for the first six miles. How many, how many runners total about uh 135 were registered. Okay, I think 125 actually started because a lot of people dropped from the heat right at the rip. So you're out so much money right at the start.

SPEAKER_05 15:50

So it kind of hurts.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Yeah, so they start to yeah, so here I am, start you on the pavement. You know, everybody kind of funnels in like any other race, and it immediately goes to single track. Now, I have never seen a rattlesnake in my life, and that's just all I can think about at this point.

SPEAKER_03 16:07

That's all I would think about too. I would be scared shitless. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

So yeah, absolutely. So I'm on a single track where it's just brush that are kind of tucked in your legs, and you're like, is it snakes in here? Well, there's a lot of runners. I didn't go first. I'm probably okay. Right. So I kind of, you know, chat with some people. I'm not much of a talkative runner. I like to just kind of, I'm kind of a solo person out there. So, but this helped because everybody I had talked to has all either done this race before or at least a 200-miler. I felt a hundred percent on my own as far as my my skill level, but everybody out here were perfect people to ask questions to because I'm like, oh, have you done this race before? No, but I ran Moab. No, but I ran Bigfoot 200. Yeah. So it's like, okay, there's there's real veterans out here that I'm just gonna kind of stay around them, see what happens. And so, you know, as we as we plug along, it's just grueling hot, but still I'm just sipping my water, doing what I think I need to do. And you know, that first aid station is at six miles. They want you to top off your water because you are about to go into the hardest section of the course. It is 22 miles before the next checkpoint, and it is the heat of the day. So, you know, it's about 1.30, it is triple digits, and they want you to be topped off with water because 22 miles in the heat is a very long way. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 17:32

So, I mean, that's a long time to be so you only have what you're carrying.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Yes. So I had to make sure I carried enough water, I mean enough uh uh fueling for 46 miles because I'm not gonna get my my trot bag for the first 46 miles. Oh man. So I have another bag in my bag that's kind of like my my drop bag that that has that stuff from that 22 to 46 mark.

SPEAKER_05 17:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

So I'm like super weighted down. You know, there isn't you're you're running, I guess, but it is it's you know, it's the paces doesn't even matter at this point. Right. And so, you know, I I I meet, you know, go to that first aid station, the energy's high, and then you get radon back onto the single track, and it's all climbing. You're you're on single track, but it's covered in like crumbly rocks or sharp rocks. It's just your feet are articulating in ways that you can't really practice unless you run a riverbed.

SPEAKER_03 18:29

Right. Did you wear like what did you wear for for um for shoes?

SPEAKER_01 18:34

So I individually taped my big toes and my second toes over to prevent chafing. And then I did I do two layers of socks. I do uh uh over the ankle sock and then I do an under-the-ankle sock. That's what it's helped me in hundreds. I'm like, well, I don't typically get blisters for hundreds unless it's raining. Yeah, let's try this. And didn't matter, but anyway, it felt good at the time. Okay, and then I wore my my ultra-olympus shoes. They have a really good rock plate, it protects my feet from sharp stuff. That's what I was my first ultra Olympus. That's my first, my first shoe I wore. And um, I ended up wearing those for 155 miles. So, so, anyways, yeah, we're on this on this track, and and I there's a group of runners behind me, and I'm like, oh hey, you know, just let me know if you want to pass. And they're like, oh no, no, you don't run here. I'm like, but it's perfectly flat. They're like, no, don't run. They're like, we did this last year, it's the heat of the day. Do not run. Everybody here that's running or is gonna lose their race.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Oh great advice, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, worth his weight in gold right there.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

And I was like, Are you sure? Because the skill's wrong. They're like, no, trust me. And so I'm chit-chatting with some people from Texas that are all you know, elites in my mind because they've done all these. Yeah, so I'm like, okay, well, they can't be wrong.

unknown 19:49

Right.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

And so I'm really kind of power hiking. We're all in line, chatting about Cooper Flag because these guys from Dallas and I'm from Maine. And so we had somewhat of a connection.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

And so and time passes on, and uh um, you know, I find a spot in the shade to kind of refill my my vest pockets with fuel. Um I'm eating my gels, I'm eating my goose, I'm eating my cliff bars, which I never want to see again. Right. Um, and and everything feels good. I'm drinking, I'm hydrating, I feel great. Yeah, um, I kind of everybody kind of hopscotch over each other as everybody rests at different breaks. Uh, but still, it's all single track. It is gorgeous. The scenery's beautiful. You have those great big tall rock formations, you have those really cool cactuses that look like they're waving to you. Yeah, just um you have uh just it's just beautiful. It still, mind you, I'm terrified of rattlesnakes and I'm still combing the ground. But you know, I find my stride, I I I jog every now and again, but I'm still mostly hiking. And then as the sun starts to kind of get closer to the mountaintops, you can see spots, and then I see other people running only in the shaded areas. So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna I can see them stretched out over a long distance. I'm like, I'm gonna do that too. And so I'm by myself and I'm just kind of you know going in and around all these bends. The sun's blocked. I run a little bit, I catch up to the next person that's walking, I walk with them. Chat, oh, have you done this before? Oh, yeah, we did it last year. It's beautiful. I'm like, wow, all right. So I'll stick with you.

SPEAKER_05 21:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

You know, I I met this, I met this woman that I was asking, I'm like, oh, what is it, about eight miles to that next aid station? She goes, Oh, I don't know, I don't care you walk. She goes, This is where I'm the freest. She goes, I live my my job, I live my life by a clock. Why do I need to be here? And I'm taking that with me because I'm gonna try that from from now on, just a little bit. I felt I felt like, wow, this that's some serious wisdom.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

It really is.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

And um, I I'm pretty sure she went on to be one of the top females too.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

Holy shit, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

I can't remember her name. I know it was her 45th birthday because she told me, but um That's so just just some just some small talk really like.

SPEAKER_05 22:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Open my mind to things. I'm like, wow, you're right. This is why I'm free. I don't I sure I wanted it to be my longest activity on Strava.

SPEAKER_05 22:07

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

But but also who cares? Because some just these other people told me they go, nobody cares if you finish this in 85 hours or 170. You finish this, you're a winner.

SPEAKER_04 22:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

So I that that's how I looked at it too. Like I'm like, I have seven days. Like I don't care. I don't care who finishes it. It's not, I'm not in a race. I don't know anybody here. This is just for me. Yeah. So as I'm getting closer to that second aid station, I run out of water about three miles out. And I and it was get it was dark at this point. And I'm like, oof, it's dark. But I have for whatever reason I had a monster energy drink in my bag. It was as hot as it was outside, but it was still liquid. I drank it. I'm like, and I didn't feel sick or headache or nauseous, so I'm like, all right, I'll be good. And and I was. I get to this river crossing, cross the river, and then I show up to what looked like a war zone. I saw vomiting. I saw people passed out. This was not an aid station for people to drop at because it's a remote location that had a river crossing.

SPEAKER_05 23:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

There's no way to get anybody out. But little did I know, 40 people got withdrawn from right there on their own willpower.

SPEAKER_03 23:20

Wow. 40. So you lost 30, you said, too?

SPEAKER_01 23:23

So a third of the runners dropped right there. All in in the first marathon.

SPEAKER_03 23:29

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

And including some of the big names, they were there vomiting too. They all were they looked awful.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

Exhaustion.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Everybody ran out of water. Oh, everybody. And some people ran out 10 miles out.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Oh, yes, exactly. That gave you a little confidence, right? Just before.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

You're like, okay, this is where this is where my one and only true doubt came in. Because when I yeah, when I saw everybody from the desert or from Texas and California drop, right, or or just how sick they were, I still felt I felt fine. I was tired. I was hot.

SPEAKER_03 24:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

But physically I felt fine. And I was like, oh no. What did I get? My this is, I guess, six more days of this.

SPEAKER_03 24:12

Is that going to be me tomorrow?

SPEAKER_01 24:13

And I'm like, can I can I keep up? Can I can I keep this going? I don't know. So I I I kind of I had some food. I think I had some pasta and I had you know some apple juice. Apple juice was like my go-to at every aid station, cold apple juice and lemonade. Those are my favorites. But I I think I down some pasta and some meatballs, and I kind of reloaded my pockets with my fuel and you know, crossed back across the river. And then there was this awesome guy that washed everybody's feet because I decided to leave my shoes. I mean, he washed my feet like I was in a hospital and needed a sponge bath.

SPEAKER_05 24:50

Like it was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

I'm like, you were touching everybody's feet. And he goes, Oh yeah, he goes I should have been a water guy this time, but now I'm feet guy. So uh I cleaned my seat, I dried them off, and I continued on. And then that's kind of where my doubt crept in. Not that I wanted to quit, but just hey, I don't know if I I don't know if I can do it. I think I'm I don't think I'm gonna make the cutoff to that 46 mile aid station. Like it really was a fear. I've never feared that in my life in a race. This time I did. And I'm like, well, with a three-hour time difference, my wife gets up at uh you know 3 30, 4 o'clock here, and I call her knowing she's awake, and I'm like, hey, I am about to hit mile 46, and I've been out here a long time, and these miles are going by incredibly slow. I'm not used to it. I'm gonna do my best. I hope I hope I can make it. I'm I hope I I hope I make you proud. I hope I make myself proud, but I'm gonna try. And so she's like, Oh, you'll be fine, you know, you can do it. And I just kind of explained, I'm like, it's just way slower than I'm used to. It's I don't know if I can make the time cutoffs. I don't know if I'm I don't know if I'm at that level. I think the heat's really gonna slow me down. So going into that first aid, you know, mile 46.

SPEAKER_02 26:11

What was the time cutoff for for for that?

SPEAKER_01 26:14

I can't really remember the time, but I know I had like three or four hours.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

Oh, so you were fine.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

But that seems like not a not a lot. I get that first because the first runner's there probably 12 or 15 hours at for the first runner, right?

SPEAKER_02 26:28

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

So they kind of give you a schedule, which I had a screenshot of of my phone. Like, this is when the first runner will arrive, you know, at Saturday at midnight. The last runner has to be out by noon or whatever, something like that on that day. Yeah, yeah. So I'm kind of looking at the screenshots, I'm like, okay, well, I'll make this one, you know, no problem.

SPEAKER_05 26:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

And then so I kind of do my thing, and I was like, all right, well, gonna refuel, take my time. I took my time at every aid. I ate, I made sure I was rested, um, didn't sleep yet, but I was like, it's it's too soon in my mind to sleep. I'm gonna wait till the mile, I can't remember the next one. It was like mile 70, maybe that I slept at. So I I refueled, I took off, and daylight came. You know, daylight always makes you feel good. And I found myself running with two runners that had done Coca-Dona 250 and Moab 240. Oh wow. Amongst a bunch of other ones.

SPEAKER_03 27:26

And I'm chatting with them and um were you intimidated by that, Jason, or did it make you feel more at ease?

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Like I I'm sure it's first intimidated because I'm like, geez, not not one person's like, oh, I've only run 100 miles. Right. Which is nothing, nothing to sneeze at. Right. But it's like I haven't met anybody that's like, yeah, I've only run a hundred. I wanted to do a 300 for my first big multi-deck.

SPEAKER_05 27:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

So I'm like, what did I do? You know, but but yes, these two people changed my confidence a hundred percent. So her name was Renata and his name was Hugo, and they were from uh New Mexico and Colorado, I believe. And they were just kind of sticking together, just strangers on the trail. And so I stuck with them too. And they're like, hey, they're like, you're doing everything right. They're like, we're gonna make it, you're gonna make it. They're like, you look fine. You look, you don't look ill, you're moving great, yeah, you're doing it right. Oh, I'm just really nervous about these cutoffs. So, like, no, that's the game here. So, like, this has nothing to do with who can run the fastest to the aid station. As long as you make it, you make it, you're fine. Yeah, and so I'm like, Yeah, you're right. This is different, it's not racing, it's about endurance.

unknown 28:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

And everybody has endurance at different levels, you know. And I'm like, I'm enduring this, like, I'm good. So I stuck with them for most of the day, and it happened to be like a super bad windstorm, and it was welcoming because it was hot, but the wind was like 50 miles an hour on the mountain, and it felt like a hot AC, but at least it was like my sweaty shirt was like feeling cool. I loved it. And then that brought me to my first encounter with a rattlesnake. And the so my two new friends, they were up ahead of me about a hundred yards, and um, you know, just kind of tagging along, going up a mountain, and I stuck my pole where it shouldn't have been, and I instantly because I couldn't hear with the wind, so I couldn't hear a rattle. It was just super windy, and I posted some videos, it's just some kind of like blowing over, and there was this one guy that his glasses blew off his face, like his prescription glasses. Oh, yeah. And he finished Yeah, he calls himself like the Asian Goggins or something, like he's pretty funny on social media. I know who this is. Yes, his glasses left the mountain, and so he had to finish the race without anything.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

Oh my god. This is like day three, too.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

Like this is not the day two, this is day two. Oh my god. And so and so I put my polls right as a rattlesnake lunges across the trail.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

And and it was terrifying. And I wow. Um I took a good video of it. I do have a video of it after the fact. Like I backed up. It's like curled, like coiled up in the middle of the kind of coiled up and it goes under a cactus, but it's like standing and it wants to, but it's like it was ready to like pounce. It wanted so I just I I kind of looked behind me for another runner to warn them, which nobody else cared about snakes. They're all like, oh yeah, well, they're here. Don't worry. I'm thinking, well, I can die any second. Which isn't true, I guess. It's rare that you die instantly, but they're like, Oh, I asked the medic, I'm like, what do I do if I get bit? I just saw a snake. Uh just walk it into the next aid and we'll we'll take you to the hospital. Do you have about 14 hours?

SPEAKER_02 30:36

They're pretty cool about it. It's so chill.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Oh. So, but yeah, yeah, I met this snake, and then I'm like, okay, now I know what to look for to hear. But this thing was like fat and about six feet long. It was huge. And it was giant, and it it kind of went away. And I and the weather runners were behind me close enough. So I make my way to this remote aid station, regroup with my friends. I had some couple bowls of ramen noodles. Um, and then I was like, all right, I got this. You know, there was no cutoff at this aid station, or for it was it it didn't really matter because it was kind of an outpost. It wasn't a place you could drop, anyways, because it was on the top of the mountain. And uh I met this guy that did this burrito league thing that's kind of popular, and he's like, Oh yeah, I got third place. I ran 885 miles in January on a like eighth of a mile course.

SPEAKER_03 31:26

My god.

SPEAKER_01 31:27

And so I'm like meeting these people that are like, I thought I did big things. Yeah, these guys are like insanity. Yeah. So um, so yeah, I carry on, and I, you know, I go with my friends back and forth, and you know, I take rest breaks, have snacks of my own, and then met this woman, she's like, Oh, I stop to eat, you know, you can kind of catch your breath, your body processes it better. I'm like, all right, I'll try that too. So I would stop, eat my cliff bar, and and carry on, eat my fruit snacks, carry on. And uh yeah, I just kind of was chipping away at the miles. And soon, you know, soon enough I was at mile 10 70 something, whatever that was. And I was like, I'm gonna take a nap. I feel great. I feel like I feel like I'm like I'm like eight hours ahead of a cutoff. I'm like, that's plenty of time for a nap. Let's let's regroup. You've been awake now for almost 24 hours, or maybe it's been 24 hours, I'm not sure. Or it no, it's I've been in the race for 24 hours. And again, I'm I'm super low in mileage compared for a 24-hour time, what I'm used to. Yeah, because I'm used to a 24-hour, 100-mile or I'm thinking I'm gonna do like 75 miles every 24 hours, which isn't true. It was not lat at all. It was like 100K for 24 hours. So I've been awake for like over a day, time to sleep. Yeah, um, it was a sleep station at full aid. I had a meal, they have a cot set up or a tent cot set up, men and women's. I went in, I said, Hey, wake me up in two hours, but I also set my own alarm.

SPEAKER_03 32:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

And um I laid down on a cot, covered up with a blanket, full belly, and I fell asleep. And my alarm went. I I woke up before my alarm, I got 90 minutes of sleep, hit that rem, and I felt spry. I'm like, I'm not, I'm not sore, I'm not sick.

SPEAKER_05 33:13

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

I came out, I said, Hey, I'm awake. They said, Would you like some coffee, a breakfast burrito? Yes, yes, and uh they're like, they're like, you look great, carry on. So, you know, and then that brings me to my hundred miler. And I'm like, I made a hundred. Okay, now we're starting to put distance behind us. Yeah, it's good, you're you're feeling good. Um, you know, and I and I finished, I think Hugo and Renata were also there, but we're kind of all spread out at different points now. Like I'm still overlapping each other. We're all saying, Hey Jason, you know, hey Renata, hey Hugo, how are you guys feeling? You know, and we're all chit-chatting. Yeah, and but they're resting at different times, different lengths. But I found my stride and I'm like, okay, this is all I have to do for the next four days. Let's do it. So you know, I'm I'm I'm I'm really confident at mile 100. I said my next my next stop is the big aid station before your giant climb. So there is the biggest climb of the race is at mile 130.

SPEAKER_02 34:17

And for perspective, let me just say this race has a total elevation of 41,000, right?

SPEAKER_01 34:23

41,000 feet. So I think I'm probably like eight or nine thousand feet of climbing in already. Crazy. That's crazy. So uh I'm I'm maybe I'm it's kind of similar to Riverlands, so it's about 12 to 13,000 on average per hundred, but this next section is where you really cram it all in. Yeah, so for a mile, like I think it's around like 117 is my my aid station before the climb. So when I get to 130, I've climbed Mount Lemon, which is the highest point, I think in Arizona, if I'm if I remember right, it's 9,000 foot feet.

unknown 34:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

So I think my elevation is like currently like around 4,000, like the starting elevation. So, but it's not just one mountain to get to the top.

SPEAKER_04 35:05

Of course not.

SPEAKER_01 35:06

So I have this aid station. I met some really cool people that I ended up meeting at other aid stations, and these are the volunteers, like they really become your family. They know you're you're a solo runner, they become like your own personal, like they they really take care of your needs, they they and just to know my name because they're tracking me too. They're like, hey, Jason, number 51, here you go, here's your stuff. And they just really welcome you. Yeah, and just a couple of people are gonna stick with me for forever because they are just they're part of my story. Yeah, just as much as these runners that I know on a first name basis, they're part of my story. Yeah, so that's what's good about this is everybody has their own version of what they did to get through it. Yeah, so I'm uh I I I I have two big hamburgers with all the fix-ins, drink a lot of apple juice, I have some sparkling water, and it's you know, getting into it's about to start the heat of the day, and I'm like, okay, let's climb this Mount Lemon.

SPEAKER_02 35:59

And uh let me sorry, let me interrupt. At any point during this race, do you have to do they weigh you or do they test a medical check to see if you're okay?

unknown 36:08

No.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

No, so the there's there's a full aid station and then there's a self-su self-aid station. So the full one will have a medic or the self one will just have a volunteer or two.

unknown 36:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

So so and if I'm sure everybody, you know, if you they all had uh some of them were like uh ham radio only because there's no cell service in some of these spots. So if you needed something, uh they had a vehicle like a like a Jeep on some of these trails, and they could probably get you out, but they said it could be four to twelve hours to get you off some of these remote spots. Yeah. Because it's really just it's really out there, it's really exposed out there.

SPEAKER_03 36:44

So you don't have to meet a requirement at the aid stations as long as you look healthy and you're fine, like you're not gonna start. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 36:49

Yeah. And so from what I'm hearing from people, they're like, wow, you're talking really good. I'm like, yeah, I slept. And I think that really made a big difference because I saw people at that point that hadn't slept. And you know, they're zombie-eyed, and I'm like, wow, I actually look okay. Well now. And so, you know, I geared up, loaded down with water. I loaded my ice bandana down and put it on top of my head. And uh I had cell service, so I called my wife just before I took off, or as I was taking off, I'm like, hey, I'm climbing a mountain, I'm gonna call you now, and I'll try to catch you, you know, whatever if it's after work. I don't even remember, but I'll try to catch you before bed. You know, I'll call you at 3 p.m. this afternoon, and uh, we'll see how I do. Because I've got, I think I've got 13 miles, which doesn't sound much, but it's straight up. It's all straight up.

SPEAKER_03 37:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:38

And so I'm weighted down, I'm packed out, and uh, I take off. Good mood, and I'm a really good uphill runner, and I'm a really good uphill power hiker. So I'm like, I'll just play into my strengths. I love every bit of this. There's no pressure to run because you physically can't. I'm just gonna chip away miles. Like it's gonna be slow, but I'm just walking at this point.

SPEAKER_05 37:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

And I was in such a good mood, and I was listening to um podcasts at this point. Like, I really didn't listen to much until about this time. And I just put on some comedy podcasts and just kind of went about my my day. I'm like, okay, this is what we're doing for work today. We're climbing mountains.

SPEAKER_05 38:15

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:16

So I don't know if you've climbed Katahdin, but it's like climbing when you get above the tree line. Yeah, it's kind of just rocky like that, and it's very steep. And it just pretty much the whole climb. There's one small forested section with like some cow pastures, but it's still pretty steep. And then it just gets to like exposed rock face. And so you just switch back in, switch back in, and you get up to a peak, and it's just a false peak, and then you go up to another peak. And then I'm so I have my watch set on my uh my my elevation graph so I can see when I'm at the top, where I am on the mountain. I don't the mileage don't really matter because it doesn't really line up on your watch because of the because of the GPS, everybody's as different. So I'm just kind of looking at my graph, and I'm like, okay, you know, I'm almost to this first peak. But then you climb down a peak, and it's like almost heartbreaking because you're losing you know 1200, 1500 feet of elevation. Right. And then I gotta go up three times as high as that.

SPEAKER_05 39:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:15

And so this repeats three or four times. And then I'm like, and then you climb, and then I get to this one spot, and I can see this little dirt road that just winded and it went up to like a radio tower. And I'm like, there's no way that's where I have to go. And that's not even the top. I'm like, the the top of the mountain I need to climb is on the other side of it because I can see it so far away still, because I can see the ski. I can kind of see lights from like housing and like summer uh uh winter homes and like lodges. And I'm like, that's right, I have to go so far away. And so, but still, I'm like, all right, I'm gonna rest. It's really hot. Call my wife again. I'm like, hey, see where I gotta go. I'm just calling you because I don't know if I'm gonna have service once I get to the back side of this.

SPEAKER_02 39:56

Right.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

So, you know, I'm talking, she's like, wow, you sound really good. I'm I feel like I'm in a great mood this now this time. And uh yeah, I just wanted to say hi and I love you, and here I go. So I hang up with her and I meet two through hikers. They're like clapping you on because they know you're in the race because they see your bib, and they're like, Wow, this is this is crazy. This is gonna take us like four to six weeks, and you guys are gonna do it in a week. And and uh and so you meet people along the trail that kind of give you some morale boost, and for sure. Um I get to the top of this mountain, and then it is a lot, it's like I lose like 3,000 feet.

unknown 40:30

Uh oh.

SPEAKER_01 40:31

And so I climb down on, and it's not like I can run it, it is brutal, brutal, like uh it and I explain it like running on Legos. So and then it feels like barefoot Legos that's once the blisters kick in. Oh and so my feet are sore, but it's fine. I can deal with I have I do have blisters at this point, but I'm like they go away.

unknown 40:53

Right.

SPEAKER_01 40:53

I can I can let them pop on their own. It's not it's not stopping me. And still, body feels good, mind feels good, and uh, I'm like, I gotta make it to the summit by headlamp time. And so I can see another headlamp in front of me because it's kind of close where I'm like, I should have it on, but I can still see pretty good.

SPEAKER_05 41:13

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:14

I hope there's no snakes. I'm at elevation, probably not. It's a little chilly up here, not chilly, it's it's windy. And it's it is not a hundred at this point, you know. It's starting to get dark, you know, it's probably in the 70s.

SPEAKER_05 41:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:26

And uh, you know, I start finding my way in, and then like a storm came in, and when I'm watching these rain clouds, I'm like, please hit me. I would love to feel this rain. And it does, it starts to sprinkle, but not not anything where I feel wet. I could just see spots touching, and I could see the rain in like in a valley. I'm like, come on, come this way, come this way. And at one point I did watch the clouds block the sun, and that's when I was calling my wife. I'm like, I'm just waiting for these clouds to help me.

SPEAKER_05 41:54

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:55

And uh, but yeah, so I make it to the top of Mount Lemon again, greeted by awesome people, awesome food, and there's a sleep tent. And I said, Okay, now I've I'm gonna sleep again. Yep, and so I tell the guys, two hours going in the tent. I probably sleep about an hour, hour, 15 minutes. I wake up and I remember the time. It was 10:30 p.m. And I'm like, I feel great, and it feels like breakfast. So I have I have breakfast, I have coffee, I have fruit, and they packed me out with like a full watermelon in a great big Ziploc panel. That's awesome. And I was like, all right. And now it's it is a straight down descent at this point.

SPEAKER_02 42:34

That's that's that's like hard. Have you changed your shoes yet? Are you in the same shoes?

SPEAKER_01 42:39

No, I'm only at mile 130. So I'm like at mile 150, mile 150, mile 155 starts a pavement section. So I put a hybrid trail shoe there. So they're a little lighter, they're a little easier on pavement, they're not big and clunky like my Olympus's.

SPEAKER_05 42:56

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 42:56

So I'm making my way down the mountain, and um it's you know, 1030 at about 10:30 is when I started. And then I take off all my my my thermal gear because I did put it on to go to bed because I'm like, it's really windy up here, I'm gonna be cold, I want to sleep. So I had my coat on, I had my uh my pants on, and that that was it. But I I stopped, took everything off, I'm like, okay, down descent. And I did, I ran it a little bit, like more of like a controlled shuffle. Yeah, I just kind of let gravity help me out. But man, that is where it started to beat up my body. Oh yeah, my feet were getting torn up, my shins were on fire, just that constant breaking motion. But I was making the miles did click away pretty quick. And uh I got all the way to the bottom of the how were your knees?

SPEAKER_02 43:47

Did that bother your knees at all?

SPEAKER_01 43:48

Not one bit. My my knees, my hips, all the joints were were really good, but it was like no, no, but like so this motion of your foot, like pushing a gas pedal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what was hurting my shins. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 44:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 44:03

So I'm just kind of like on like my feet are just arc strange.

SPEAKER_03 44:08

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:08

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:09

And so I'm doing it for I don't even know, maybe 10 miles. Oh. And then once you get back to the base, you're in it what look like Maine. It was a wooded area. I saw my first stream in a hundred miles that wasn't dry. Yeah. I walked my legs for the first time because I have a I have a leg sleeve tattoo on one leg. You couldn't tell I had it. It was black.

SPEAKER_02 44:31

You were so dirty.

SPEAKER_01 44:33

So I washed my legs. I I sat by the stream. I had some watermelon. I just kind of like was like, hey, this is great. Like I'm really this is fun. It's the middle of the night. I'm like, look what I'm doing. This is so cool. I felt so good. And so I, you know, it's still a long ways to the aid station and I'm chipping away. I think it was over 20 miles. And um just picking the way. The temperatures are good. It's nighttime, doing some damage. Like, I'm like, this is where I'm making up time, you know?

SPEAKER_04 45:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:01

I'm running these. There was somewhat gravel roads. Like, I think you would need like one of those great big lifted jeeps to drive it though, because it's just it's not a not a true road, but I think it's like an off-road kind of thing for those Baja trucks.

SPEAKER_05 45:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:14

And and I'm going along and uh I meet two other runners out there, also previous 300 finishers. And it's really and I but I felt really confident. I'm like, hey, I'm keeping up with these guys that are badass. Like they were such nice guys. It was Emmanuel and Chad. Like they were really nice, really friendly. And uh I'm like, these guys know what they're doing, and and I'm and I'm tagging along, like awesome. Um, I videoed a scorpion just hanging out in the sand, just kind of he was not happy with my headlamp, but he didn't want to bother anybody. Um, and then I I ran it in um with Emmanuel to the next aid, and uh we got to the heat of the day, and you could see when you come out the mountain, you can see a city, and it's Tucson. And you can it just looks like any city like at night, it's beautiful. It looks like kind of if you were in LA, you see that over the city from like from the Hollywood sign, kind of what it reminded me of. Nothing else to compare it to.

SPEAKER_05 46:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:10

Um, so I'm like, hey, there's the city, but it was a still such a long ways. I'm like, man, I've been running at the city for hours, and it looks the same distance.

SPEAKER_05 46:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

And uh, you know, Emmanuel and I, we meandered our way through. Um, we had another great encounter with a rattlesnake. He had never seen one up close, so he decides to fish it out of the cactus.

SPEAKER_03 46:29

Oh my god, no, with his truck pole.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

And I would be I I'd be happy. I think I did share photos on my Facebook, but he was just fully outstretched, you know, and just kind of hissing and snapping at his pole. I kept my distance. Yeah, he was happy. I filmed him doing it, and everyone I sent it to made it made them nauseous. So, like, what is that guy doing? Yeah, yeah. But it was fine. The snake went away, and then I see all these other hikers with like uh uh shin guards on. They're like, How do you have bare legs out here? This is rattlesnake country, and I'm like, Oh, thanks for reminding me.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

Right, like somebody who gets it finally.

SPEAKER_01 47:06

Yeah, yeah. They're like, Yeah, we're hiking, like we don't go out without these, you know. And but you know, we had you know five miles to go as it's getting pretty hot early morning or late morning at this point, and um, we get to that next aid station late morning before noon, and uh that's where I got to my my shoe change. And um I had the shoe change. I this so this is where I had my feet worked on for the first time. I was terrified to pull my socks off, which I had done previously to keep them fresh. I pulled my socks off and I saw what looked like garlic cloves between my toes. It was gross. And the medic was there and he's like, All right, do we want to do something about this? I'm like, Yeah, because I can't curl my toes. It's too too much pressure.

SPEAKER_05 47:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:53

So I said, he's like, he got right over all excited. He's like, all right, let's do this. I'm like, can I eat first? Because this is creeping me out. Yeah. I'm like, it it's I I'm I don't know, I'm squeamish about certain things. Not about my not about feet in general, but just you're gonna cut me and I don't know what it's gonna feel like. Right, right. So, but honestly, it didn't I didn't feel it at all. It it actually felt relieved. I bad he was so gentle, he's he flossed my toes with like medical strips and cleaned me up so good. These sound amazing.

SPEAKER_05 48:24

They are amazing, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:25

And then in the meantime, they're bringing me pasta and and more drinks, and they're refilling all my hydration pap. They're refilling my ice, they're icing my shins down because that's where I'm starting to like burn.

SPEAKER_04 48:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

And they pack me up and uh they said, and this was like 11, 11:30. They're like, all right, do you wanna do you want to rest? Do you want to sleep? And I said, nope. I said I want to get through this next section. It's pancake flat for the next like 50 miles. Oh wow. So so and now this is where it's triggering in my head. Like, I've only ever run 117 miles prior. So I'm like, geez, I'm not mile 150. Every step has been a PR. Uh-huh. So I'm like, and I'm still confident, feel good. Uh the other two runners all take off, and you know, they're everybody's doing their own thing. And I said, Okay, it's time to march off, you know, across the hot pavement. And I'm gonna they said, take shelter under the overpasses, cool off. That's the only time, and it was a bike path. So you gotta be aware of public.

SPEAKER_05 49:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:27

And uh cool is because people coming up from behind you all saw your bib because my bib was on my back.

SPEAKER_05 49:32

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:32

And they're all like, you know, cheering, and some people saw me sleeping under an overpass. And when I started when I and it was just like a 10-minute like cat nap.

SPEAKER_05 49:41

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:42

And as I'm walking off again, they're they're coming at me, they're like, Hey, was that you just sleeping? They're like, Congratulations, you know, you're about eight mile eight miles from a public restroom and uh water fountain in case you need it. Oh, that's awesome. And they're like, Do you want us to run your bottles down? We'll fill it for you. Like, no, no. I was like, totally cool. I I I'm plenty packed up, I'm just marching on.

SPEAKER_03 50:01

But like, oh yeah, for a little bit of faith in humanity, yeah, right?

SPEAKER_01 50:05

And and I and I see this this girl walking at me and she kind of does a does a double take, and then she holds up her phone, she goes, You're number 51. She goes, I'm actually tracking this race. And she goes, Yeah, and I was like, Oh, how cool. And just and she's like, Oh, congratulations, what's it feel like? And uh, I call my wife, and I'm in such a good mood. I'm like, hey, it's getting it's getting to evening time, just calling you before bed. I'm doing awesome. And this was the only part of the trail where if you saw a restaurant or gas station, you were granted permission to step off trail, go get whatever you wanted, as long as you entered, because you're being GPS tracked. Right, like by them.

SPEAKER_03 50:43

So get back in.

SPEAKER_01 50:44

So they know where you are. So if you step off course in this one city section, you're welcome to do whatever you want. Go swimming in a pool if you find one. As long as you enter the trail at the same spot. Yeah, no, no penalty. So I get to the end of this one section, and I have to cross the main road, and there's a like a 7-Eleven on the corner. It's actually called QT.

SPEAKER_03 51:07

Oh, get that look.

SPEAKER_01 51:10

This is uh pumped. Yeah. Go in and feel AC that I haven't felt in three days. Yep, and I bought an extra large pineapple slushy and an ice cream sandwich. And I best taste an ice cream sandwich. It was so good. And I went and I sat on the picnic table, and you know, it's busy, it's city. Right. And everybody's looking at you like you're just some bum. Like, because I I was dirty. I am so dirty. I was wearing I was wearing a bright white UV long sleeve t-shirt from Rabbit, and it is brown and gross at this point. I and I'm just I just and I'm dirty still. Like I've I've washed my legs, but now it's just like smeary mud.

SPEAKER_05 51:48

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:49

And I and I and I went back in the gas station to see if they had uh I was nervous about one of my battery chargers on me, like running out before I made for my next one. And I was like, hey, do you have preloaded phone chargers or whatever? And they said, no, but that's a good idea. I'm like, I'll just take another ice cream sandwich. And I carried on. So so I carried on, and um, I was like, okay, I just want to get to this next big aid station, which was like mile 173. And I know that because that's where the previous, like three stops ago, workers were like, hey, we're gonna see you at mile 173, Jason. So I'm like, I can't wait to get to 173. And so that people, yeah. It was it. I get there and um I met this guy, Isels, and uh, if he hears this, shout out to Isles and uh Seth, shout out to Seth, and then there was a woman and another guy, I can't remember their names, I feel bad, but they were saviors. They cooked me pizzas, they filled, they had like one of those wood-fired pizza ovens. Oh, they cooked me two personal pizzas, they got me drinks, they refilled all my water, and they put me down for a nap. And um it was it was the best. I had such a great experience. I'm in the city, I'm in a parking lot of like maybe a Walmart or a Costco, and it's just running atmosphere vibes. They got all the tents and the lights, and uh it's just and that's where like a crew stop, so there's lots of people there, there's lots of crew waiting for their runners, good energy, just great vibes, everybody's super friendly. Um, it was only maybe like 7 or 8 p.m. Um, I go down for my nap and uh again, two hours, don't let me sleep past that. But again, I get up on my own, I go out, and I'm really stiff, my shins are like, you know, pretty rough. But you know, I'm like, I'll just start moving, it'll stretch out. Um they make me oatmeal, they give me coffee. Again, breakfast time for me. I don't know, it's again, probably 10 30 at night. Yep, right. And I said, okay, I have a 20, I have about a marathon to the to the next big, to the next big mile marker, mile 200.

unknown 53:56

Right.

SPEAKER_01 53:56

So I'm like, I have a marathon to go. I feel great mentally, physically, pretty good, all things considered. I'm gonna run. And I did. And I ran what felt like running because it was like maybe a 11 to 14 minute pace at times. And I feel like I'm cranking, and miles are clipping off, and I'm like, this is great. I feel good. I go the wrong way because I miss it. The the it follows a river, but I don't realize there's a path here and a path here. And I crossed the bridge, but I stayed to the left when I should have gone to the right. So I I check my GPS on my watch and I see my little line veered way off. And I have all my alerts off just so I don't hear the sounds all the time. And so I'm like, oh no, the red line's over here, and I'm like 600 feet away from it. And it's a it's a river, it's a river, but it's like a spillway. There's no water in it, it's just full of coyotes, wild pigs, no, and shopping carts.

SPEAKER_03 54:52

No, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 54:53

And I'm like, and probably snakes.

SPEAKER_03 54:54

So I'm like, yeah, probably lots of snakes.

SPEAKER_01 54:56

All right, let's backtrack. I was about a mile off course. Yeah. So straight back, adrenaline dump. I forgot all my pains and I ran fast. Yeah. Get back to the road crossing and just kind of have to go down the road, back on course. Uh, I see my buddy Chad taking a trail nap on a bench. He looks freaking peaceful. And I'm like, I'm still with all these guys. This is great. Yeah, yeah. And uh I keep running, and then I have a headlamp coming at me, and which I've seen bikers, you know, commuting because it's a commuter trail.

SPEAKER_05 55:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:29

Uh I see homeless people, which kind of make me uneasy because I'm in a city. Yeah, I couldn't defend myself. If anybody wanted to rob me, they're getting everything. Because I've got no strength. I'm not outrunning many people at this point. Um, but it's a it's a woman on a bike, and she's like, Hey, I'm with Destination Trail. Would you like an escort through the next five miles? There's there's been an issue with this encampment under the bridges. We just want to make sure our runners are are good because something happened the night before. Someone had some conversation, a firearm was involved. No one, nothing, nothing happened. Yeah, but the caution was there, and the police are like, Well, nothing happened, we're not gonna hang out. So I felt super confident chatting with this woman. Um, she's riding her bike alongside of me. So kind. So that's the next five miles went by in like a blink of an eye because I'm chatting and is like, you know, just getting to know a stranger, and um yeah, they get us across, or she gets me across. She's like, okay, this is my my turnaround spot. I'm gonna head back. Go get the next one. I'll find the next one. Yeah, I'm like, thank you, and I carried on. Uh I'm running along. I'm kind of watching my map at this point because there was a couple updates on their course. They opened a new section that they utilized, but I don't know, I can't remember if I updated it on my watch. So I'm using the live tracker on my phone to just make sure I'm gonna follow because I'm going kind of through residential, but it's still Arizona Trail.

SPEAKER_05 56:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:56

But you're off trail, like you're following roads to get to the connector.

SPEAKER_03 57:01

Download this map before the race.

SPEAKER_01 57:03

That's how you're it's an offline, it's an offline map. So you don't have to have service. You you your GPS beacon is right here and it's all downloaded on there. So I'm just checking, checking my watch, checking my phone, like periodically. I'm like, okay, it looks like a long straightaway. I go through an Air Force base, like not the base, but there's a fence, and uh I see military stuff, and I'm like, okay, that's where I'm supposed to go. And uh I'm closing in on my next aid station, which was like mile 190 something. And uh it's dark out, it's cold, another gas station. I pull in, I get a I get a tall seltzer water and a coffee monster energy. I downed the seltzer and I carried my coffee to the next aid.

SPEAKER_05 57:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:48

And um again, it's probably four or five a.m. still dark. And I should have taken a nap, like my body was like kind of tired, but it's also dark and I still have pavement. I want to get off that hot top before the sun comes up.

SPEAKER_05 58:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:04

So I downed a couple of burgers. Uh, all these people were sleeping there, which wasn't a sleep station. They were just sleeping next to this propane fire pit they had set up. Um, I'm chatting with the the the aid worker, and she's talking about, oh, I've been running 200 milers for probably 25 years, and I'm like, what? Really? She's like, You're smart for getting this done, you know, in the dark. Yeah. And she goes, and if you get tired when the sun comes up, sleep wherever you land. She goes, but get across this section. Perfect running weather right now. Because it's probably in the 60s. Right. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 58:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:38

And so I ate two hamburgers, thanked her, filled my she filled my stuff, and uh away I went. And uh started to get really emotional as the sun came up, makes me emotional now. Yeah, mile 200.

SPEAKER_05 58:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:52

And I was like, oh my, I just ran 200 miles. That's and I'm so crazy. I have goosebumps. Like that's one, right?

SPEAKER_02 59:00

Right in that little side trip.

SPEAKER_01 59:03

No, but the watch, the what yeah, the watch at 200. And I was like, oh my. What a monumental. I I just just mind blowing, like, what an accomplishment. Um, I'm I'm like, I'm in some neighborhood looking at these fancy gated houses, and I'm like, I just ran 200 miles and look, and I'm seeing the sun come up over the mountains, took a picture of my watch, took a picture of the sunrise. Yeah, um and uh I text my wife. I don't think I called her, I text her because I couldn't remember if she was up or not, but I said, Hey, mile 200, like I feel so good, like I can't believe it. She congratulated me, made me feel so good. I'm crying, I'm having this emotional time like with myself, and I'm just kind of making my way to back to the the desert.

SPEAKER_02 59:48

Yeah. And uh mentally at this point, are you foggy or do you are you still thinking clearly?

SPEAKER_01 59:54

I'm still sharp. I'm still sharp. These these these small maps, I'm sharp.

SPEAKER_02 59:59

Okay, wild.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:00

And um I get to mile two 200 and change, and I meet another runner, John. He's from he's a knee surgeon from Utah. Again, a 240 runner, uh, 250 runner, 200 runner. And I'm like, and this, and you know, he's he's I don't know, 15 years older than me. Yeah, and he's like, he's a knee surgeon. And of all people, I'm like, wow, you must get crap for oh it's bad for your knees. He's like, he goes, my knees are great. Yeah, he goes, I I exercise regularly, you know, and I listen to my body, and yeah, and so I'm like, that's that's great. You know, I longevity-wise, he's like, I've been doing this for years, years and years. Yeah, so chatted with him, we ran it in together to that next aid, and um now it clicks it. I have a hundred-mile race to go, and I am uh I I like I have a hundred miles to go, which is hard any day. It's hard. And I'm like, I'm tired and sore, my legs aren't working normally. Yeah, um, so the next chunk of miles are very much a blur to me. They were very slow, they were very hot, snake-filled territory. Um, and I'm just picking it off eight aid station to aid station at this point. Like, I'm like, I'm I'm gonna make it. I have plenty of time, I'm way ahead of the cutoff. So like I'm 24 hours ahead of the cutoff at this point. Yeah, so I'm like, I've got so much time to really rest, not sleep, but I changed my clothes for the first time at this point at mile 200, first clothes change. Yeah, I because I had I had stuff in my drop bag, yeah, and I I walked out with my shorts and my my uh my spandeck shorts, my undershorts, and I I went right to the track and goes. Why'd you do that? My because my wife is not wanting me to bring these home.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:53

I never want to see these again. These cannot be.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:55

I never want to see these again. They can't be watched. And uh I kept my my long sleeve because that was my sun protector. Yeah, and uh, I put a tank top on at this point, and I could only do that for about that day because of the chafing from the bag, just kind of rubbing on skin. Never gave me a blister, but it just felt uncomfortable. Yeah, so I put the put the long sleeve back on until the very last day. But um I just kept like, okay, you know, aid station, aid station, they're uh 10 miles apart to 17 to 20, and those are very slow, painful stretches. And I couldn't really muster much to run. Once in a while I would get a burst, but my feet hurt incredibly. My shins were really bad. I was gonna ask.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:41

Do you think at this point, like, are you starting to develop any concern that they're, you know, like obviously you knew you'd be in pain, but at any point yet, are you wondering if you're doing harm? Or are you still? I never thought that.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:52

I'm like, it is what it is. You're built for this. You can't, you can't think you're gonna be injured or you can mentally kick yourself out. I'm like, I'm just sore. I'm just overusing. And what what made me actually feel good was now my other shin feels exactly the same. Yeah. So I'm like, okay, when I have a uh uh an injury that's exactly the same on both body parts, it's just overuse. Yep. However, at one point, I'm in the deep in the 200s, I trip like this, and it folds my foot under where I felt everything tug, and I think I felt ripping. I for sure felt blisters popping because my sock got wet. And I went and I went down to my knees and like almost in like tears, and I'm like, I don't know if I can stand up.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:33

But I did. Yeah, and I carried on, I hobbled it out, but um I was very painful, and I was like, you know, just just keep chipping away. You this this pace will get you there. This you're fine. Yeah, no, no doubt. You just pay and you and I still I was with these uh these next six runners, Chad and Emmanuel, um John, Andrea, and then I met another run runner down the road, Alex, and then I met this guy, Carter, who was in his 60s. That this is what he does. He is a multi-day beef. That's so and and I remember his name, he gave me some neproxin because they're not allowed to give you any medication at an aid station. Um and I I had about I think I had maybe 10 ibuprofen to start. Yeah, and I was like using them very sparingly because I don't take anything ever like for training. I save it for when something flares up to try to control the swelling.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:31

And so he gave me some neproxin, and I just put them in my in my bag. I'm like, I'm still good, I can still move. And um he was he was frustrated because he's like, Oh, you know, I was hoping to do better, and I I turned wrong and I lost some time. Like he was just a badass, like this super cool guy. Yeah, and but he he was a man of very few words, and he just would take off by himself. And then um but the aid stations again, very welcoming. I think I napped. I think I napped a little bit a couple more times, but just briefly, maybe half hour. I just I really wanted to just get it over with at this point. I'm like, okay, you've been out here for so long. Just get to you, but still uh blur. And so now I get to my uh next foot repair aid station, which was like mile two sixties, somewhere in there. And I'm like, I'm so deep in this. I'm like, I have about another day and this is over. Let's get these feet repaired the best we can. Yeah, um, the same medic that fixed me up at mile 150 was here at 260. Um again, no gloves. He's like, give me that foot, put it right up here in my lap.

unknown 1:05:44

Oh god.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:46

And he starts fixing me up. Doing his magic and uh does his magic, and the photographer happened to be there, and I got some pretty good fit photos of my face as he's like using these some type of needle on me or. these blades and he don't look don't look it was and I saw like a volcano erupt and I'm like that's disgusting so gross but he's like he's like oh this is fine you know this is you know it's part of it and and he's an emt from I can't remember he said Oregon have to be right like that's but he's like oh he goes I just enjoy he goes I just enjoy being out here and this is the type of medic I want to be is like he's a super young guy I head to be 20 years old oh yeah and um but again he's a finisher also of big races like he's um so cool one of the big two on a lot more healthy he's like that's part of it he is totally part of it and what I found out was if you volunteer for a uh destination trail they pay you in race credits that's pay yeah so yeah it it it doesn't really make sense for me because I live here and I still have to travel right but if I lived in the vicinity with driving range I could go help out at an aid station and get credit like two grand worth of race entry that's awesome so it's really cool how they treat people and um really really pleased to get my feet worked on and then there was a tent and uh all the other runners they all dispersed and went off at their own pace and I said I'm going to bed it's just starting to get right it's it was kind of still hot and I was like I'm gonna nap because it's gonna bring me to evening and then the nighttime move to then we'll go do work.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:24

And so I go I nap in this tent like don't go on that one there's no roof on it and like I don't care. It's fine. It happens to actually downpour while I'm asleep and so I'm like whatever I'm I'm a mess. It's fine. I just kind of push all my stuff under my cot. No more I can't sleep at this point. I wake up I go back I have some um I have some turkey BLT wraps or Reggie wraps or something have some coffee some apple juice and um like all right we got 24 hours about and this will be over. Yeah and so I take off and I meet this local out on a on a uh mountain bike and he's like oh hey he goes do you see that castle up on top of that mountain I'm like yeah it was a beautiful house it really was decorated like a castle. He goes I live just below it he goes I'm just out getting my exercise it was like a a heavily like uh fitness influenced area because it's it's all trail and all these people like mostly older mountain biking and hiking like it was really inspirational like maybe this is where I want to retire this looks like a great place to live yeah he goes just to warn you there is a lot of snakes here in this section and you're gonna cross the road under in this tunnel a very dark tunnel and he goes put your headlamp on and hold your poles in the sand in front of you the snakes hide in the sand oh and I don't know if he's I don't know if he's yanking my chain but he didn't seem like it he's like hey I'm just warning you so I'm like okay thanks and uh you know a mile or two down the trail I get to this bridge that is painted like an open snake's mouth like a yeah I was gonna say it was like a snake's mouth you posted it on Instagram yeah and I I and I actually had like anxiety of the like turning back like my body wouldn't go forward. Yeah I bet and it wasn't quite dark yet but I put my headlamp on and I shine it in the tunnel and I just I'm like well I can't go anywhere else I can't go up and over because it's bushes and cactuses.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:27

I honestly was thinking that when I saw the picture I'm like could you go around like this seems nothing and it and it was far it was like I don't know probably a hundred yards of tunnel.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:35

Oh jeez and I couldn't even see daylight until I stuck in I stuck my head in the in the in the hole then I could see the little spot of daylight I'm like okay and so I'm fishing around with my poles and it goes to pavement. So once I got through the sandy part I'm like okay it's paved let's just go you're you're good yeah so and I was I was good and so I go into the night and I'm huddling down the trail there's cow patties everywhere right and then there's rattlesnakes coiled up that look exactly the same and I was like oh there's cow shit everywhere not this one oh no no no it was a tightly packed cinnamon roll about this big around which was a rattlesnake sleeping dead center of the trip hell no but now I'm watching cow pies and snakes right yeah oh my god and and I'm starting you know I never really got true hallucinations but my mind is just thinking all these cow pies are snakes yeah and so I took a picture of both and I sent them to my wife and I send them to Megan I'm like hey which one's the snake because they look so similar and where it had just rained things are like multicolored the cow pies are not dried out they're kind of spotty so another level of stress yeah it is like that would stress me out just as much as like the intimidation of the mileage not knowing the rattlesnake thing's not for me. Yep. So I make my way through I get to this last kind of like outpost station um I took a I took a quick nap uh refueled charged my my watch maybe I think I charged my watch and uh got back on the trail and I'm like okay I've got like three mountains to climb before I want to take a trail nap. I might have kind of got this out of order a little bit doesn't matter. Yeah I'm kind of like I said it was kind of a mushy blur at the time I'm sure but I do know for a fact I was running with this French guy named Eric from the he was real and it was real and him and I were he was a super another older than me super strong power hiker impressive and so I'm kind of following his lead and he's like okay Jason I'm gonna take a nap right here I'll see you down the trail perfect I'm my goal was to get beyond peak three to nap these weren't anything like Mount Lemon but I'm watching on the graph they're like zigzaggy and I'm like up down up down yeah they were they were easy as far as technicality goes they weren't forever so I get to the top of mountain two get down to the bottom Eric sleeps I carry on and I thought I saw a coyote or just a flash of and it's a full moon I can see really good so I'm just kind of dimmed on my light and I'm just watching for snakes. Yes and I put my headlamp on super bright and as a mountain lion no shit in the trail which I never even thought I would see or thought of or was told about mountain lion and he's 50 to 70 feet in front of me instantly reaction was to scream and yell scream and yell waved like crazy right and he turned around and just kind of trotted off but then he turned around came back and stood where he just and he just staring at me not aggressive and then he turned around again looked over his shoulder and carried on I waited 20 minutes Eric shows up we went together blowing whistles crack and sticks it was a very long and cold night I did not I did nap for a second but I'm like there's bugs in the ground I saw tarantulas all the time when I looked down I'm like I just want to get to my aid and I keep carrying on I get to that final big aid station 15 miles to go oh my gosh like you know you're you know you've got it you're do you're doing I'm like I'm gonna finish uh and it actually happened to be cold like it's seasonal temperatures and mess at this point I feel like that would have been the biggest like fixing a little bit nothing a little a little bit but I'm like I'm really painful I'm gonna eat I'm gonna go sleep I don't care how long I sleep but I said three hours I want three hours. Yep I probably slept two full hours I wake up and I need a medic to help me like kind of get moving because my legs have kind of locked up he walks me to the bathroom and then he walks me back to a chair um I eat some I'm like do you have chocolate chocolate chip pancakes they're like we have candy bars and we have pancakes that'll work like done so they made me I don't know five or six healthy looking pancakes and then then the emotions kick in I'm like I'm gonna be a 300 miler by lunchtime or so and uh I and I didn't want to keep going through the night because I wanted to finish during the day there was no it didn't matter if I finished three hours before or not. Right yeah right I want to sleep I want to feel the best I can to finish this race and uh I get up and uh I I call Megan and I was like hey 15 miles I said when you get out of work is probably one I'll be finishing. If you follow if you follow the live stream you might see me cross. If not you know you'll be driving but I'm gonna finish this today. So I called her periodically just thanking her for this amazing opportunity. And uh just pain and the tears it just hurt so bad and I swear in and I'm like I hate this I hate this it's going by too slow but I'm gonna do it I saw some hikers out there that were kind of cheering me on and um actually after I struggled through the the trail section which is not forgiving everything sucked. It was all hard I was hoping it was going to be like a nice gravel road it was just as hilly and rocky as everything else. Yeah brings me out to a main road um listening to my wedding song which is nothing else matters by Metallica and just just listening to to the nothing else matters and just having the moment yeah really celebrating. Yeah and uh these the two hikers waited for me and they they have standing there with a cold bottle of water and it was a nice like older couple and they're like you're doing so good Jason and they like she's like I'm gonna say a prayer Jason to your legs please let Jason finish this race and so sweet. There was a great big cooler that the race left by the road because it was finishes on a pavement road yeah great big cooler full of ice I rubbed myself down ice in my shins yeah and I kind of death marched that two miles which I tried to run in like between mailboxes between telephone poles I was sitting on the ground rubbing my feet because it just felt like relief yeah and a car stops and they go Sir are you okay would you like a ride and oh my god no don't offer don't offer no and then and then there was a mine like mine workers there was some mine workers coming up off work and they're like sir would you like a ride to the bottom of the mountain and I'm like oh my god and I tell everybody now cheering you on right and then I I'm going down the road and I see the flag flutter in and I start losing it. I did it I start losing it and then Alex who I met he was from Texas actually originally from Mass he was a uh a Moab 240 finisher he had just finished he's out by the road Jason I knew you'd be running this in and I start getting that adrenaline dump and I'm tugging and um uh all the all the workers start lining the road they're all clapping ringing the bells so cool and I get that adrenaline dump where I could surge into the chute and put the alms up and that's I did it so awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:28

I am a 300 mile finisher yeah and you're the so epic the only maner from I am the only maner to to complete it.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:39

There was someone that did it last year or didn't complete it last year and there was someone that was supposed to be there but withdrew but um withdrew before it even started. So but I am from the Northeast very proud that my winter training in the snow got me through the hottest desert.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:57

I mean that's it's you're set up to fail. Like that's you're you've like you're saying I mean you're running with all these people even if they lived you don't have to be like northeast even if you live like central United States they have a better chance I mean you're set up a little bit better but you're literally training it this winter sucked. It was so cold it was so snowy and then you go and run literally 300 miles in the desert like that's it's just effing nuts. It's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:24

Did uh did the you know like in the um Iron Man races the winners they go home and shower and then they come back and they they they they're there at the finish line for the slower people to finish like the same thing happen there people were I mean the the winner finished three days before I did so if and and then I there was tons of like RVs there and running cars so everybody was just dead in their car as much as I was like I went to my car like I I I went and saw a medic they iced me down I ate ate some food had some smoothies um chatted with some people you know with my legs up and then um uh some people helped me load my my drop bags at that point into my car and I I I booked a hotel from my chair and then I went in my car and fell asleep until the next day.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:14

So I I went to the hotel at like 6 a.m I got there just as breakfast was being served but I already had a room so yeah I just uh but yeah I did it it was um wow what a phenomenal talk about your mindset after you finished like I just this has been your sole focus point for almost a year right and then all of a sudden you know it's that next mile get to that next aid station next aid station get to the finish line then you did it was it a sense of relief like how did you feel after when you could really like decompress after you probably woke up in your car well it took me about a week to to process but I felt really proud yeah because there was only 72 finishers or about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:59

And so I felt really proud of what I've done um and I was proud of my myself that I didn't get into that ego racing mindset at all. And so I just I'm proud that I kept positive that I stuck to the best plan I could the fueling on on what I carried kind of went out the window after but I I really ate a lot of whole foods at the aid stations. But I think I did everything right I I I feel like I'm not a train I don't train by a a coach or I don't look online. I did ask ChatGPT to make me a training plane to see what it would look like. Yeah but I don't I only think that really helped me with was counting my calories. Yeah um I I'm really good with intuition and I feel like I stuck to my guns um I listened to everybody's advice yeah my wife really helped push me as far as no like just believing in me. Yeah and I promise you I'm not chasing anything bigger like that's not what I'm about this was about doing something that seemed impossible. And I don't want to be like I'm gonna do a thousand mile race like it's not like I would do another one of these multi-days for sure. I really enjoyed the format I enjoyed the different style it wasn't like hundred mile racing and now I kind of want to approach hundred mile racing as hey let's go see a backcountry of name a state and just enjoy it and like let's let's break it down like I did aid station to aid station. Let's let's break it down with hey me and my wife can go explore some place that only people are going to see on foot. Like I saw parts of Arizona that no one's gonna see unless you go back there. Yeah and so I really like the concept of it like not racing but endurance. And so it's kind of changed my mind with yeah there's some things I might want to race still of course but like that's not my sole purpose. Yeah and I don't want this to be my thing because it did cost a lot of money not just for the the registration but I I took two weeks off from work to do the race. I took a week off after the race to recover which as a contractor kind of allowed for me to do that but I'm still like I'm not getting paid. Right. So logistically it's a big undertaking so to do three of these a year and then it's not fair to my wife where if she's not doing it with me I'm taking a solo vacation. Yeah and so being grateful to have that opportunity where she wasn't like you're gonna take vacation without me like that never came up at all. She's like I want you to do this go chase this dream go chase this goal and to chase something like when I remember when I ran my first hundred miler which was at last man standing like the year I committed to a hundred I didn't do it. I think I ran 100K and I'm like oh man you know and my mind just wasn't there because I mentally tapped out and to to be able to run 300 miles not once wanting to quit or I need someone to push me because I had nobody out there other than the volunteers and the other runners. Like there was no family there clapping me on like I posted on Instagram just to kind of tell everybody that was following me um like hey this is how I feel today. This is what I saw just a quick one minute hey this is and then maybe a snake picture. Like I didn't flood it with just just spam videos like I truly like put a lot of emotion and thought into it and to know that I've left footprints all over the world I had people messaging me from I think all the continents but Antarctica people I've met in my travels that I didn't realize I really impacted with my inspiration and I didn't you know I just I'm a regular guy. I'm a blue collar worker I I didn't go to college I didn't graduate college and I I wasn't a pro athlete I'm not a pro athlete but I seem to have this drive that doesn't quit and that's with everything I do whether it's work um my family my wife like I really put everything into something so to accomplish this it really came full circle and I feel like I did what I was there to do.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:56

You are not a regular guy. Yeah no your drive is unbelievable and your mental toughness I mean just listening to this story I think that's what really blows me away how you were always positive never wanting to quit at any point. You were like all right I'm just gonna today I hurt I'm gonna you know do this chunk I'm just gonna get there I mean that's that's I think aside from the physical part of it the most impressive it's a long time to be mentally strong.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:21

So 300 miles is very far is a long time on the feed.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:24

I really can but um listen I do have to ask you about your recovery because I did see that picture of your in your ankles can we just can we just talk about that quickly like what was it like to recover from 300 miles?

SPEAKER_01 1:24:37

So I took a full week off from all activity um well more than a week I took like nine days off I didn't I I I did I worked but like I just went met with customers I did some estimates this computer stuff I drove to a couple of job sites to check on things but I never did any physical labor I didn't climb any ladders I didn't push any floor grinders so swollen. They were so swollen and that last section of trail my feet didn't fit in my shoes we had to pull my laces out um like like all the way loose just so the tongue could come up. You were sweating before you race oh that's bad and so when I got home three days I got home three days later and that's the pictures you saw like my wife took my video of my ankles like overlapping my heel. And so I was gonna I was gonna go to the gym like I felt like I slept a lot over the weekend and I was gonna go to the gym and she's like you should really think about a whole week you should probably I wasn't gonna do anything crazy. I just I'm it's my routine right I knew I wasn't gonna run but I was like I just got to move around. Right. But I really slept um I burned 58000 calories during the race how did you lose did you happen to weigh yourself I'd be crazy about what you lost it it factors out mathematically to about 10 or 12 pounds like how many calories you burn what my wife told me I just I ate I slept um I really iced down a lot and I kind of like would stretch I would go in the hot tub and kind of stretch my foot once it warmed up and I I got some shin splint compression sleeves I've been wearing around to protect it. And uh so I took nine days off of just being around the house no exercise yeah and and I and I embrace it because I don't it's important I I it doesn't matter if I go and lift or run I just it's not gonna change tomorrow. It's not gonna change I have that was my race like I'm not trained and even if I was training for something I need to be healthy. Yeah so um and so then Monday this past Monday you know I'm I'm nine days ten days at this point out I went back to the gym you know just lifting just my normal like lifting routine like lightweight and do any leg workouts this week really letting my shins heal and I'm probably not going to run until Tuesday. So so that'll be you know 18 20 days of yeah let's just see let's let the shins get back to normal like I said earlier one is about healed and the other one is about where it started post race for on the other leg. So one was worse than the other but the they are turning a corner like I can flex my foot better. It's still some pain still working on stretching it but um just just trying to stay off them for to be smart. I did withdraw from Xterra World Championship in May. I was supposed to race in Malta and I I withdrew yesterday because I could probably slog the miles out to 50k but I didn't want to run in the sun I again for a little bit it's like a fully exposed course um and I can't give that race what it deserves to race in a world championship. Like I could go and hustle it out. Yeah but I can't so when I withdrew they thanked me because that gives another athlete an opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:55

That's awesome. And you know and that's right you give you the opportunity to really compete

SPEAKER_01 1:28:00

level that you're not gonna be able to show up and and then they said we're gonna give you a special exception we'll invite you to next 2027 so it's still a chance which it's fine um if I do it I do it if I don't the opportunity's there but but no just I made the smart choice to withdraw because I'm not like I'm not trying to do every race I'm not trying to be a this badass that runs crazy miles but I'm just still a badass. I have another race so then my wife and I might do a relay at Pineland Farms um Memorial Weekend and we're gonna do it as a fun run. If I'm recovered um you know we'll do a do a two person 30 hour relay go chip away some miles just go hang out yeah and uh go see our running friends and I was gonna think you'll have your crew your people all be there and like um there's a there's a guy that's running Riverlands for his first hundred miler and if I'm able I will pace him and it will probably be like a you know a good hike so I I think I'll probably be capable of so as long as it feels good in the next week or two that's kind of what I have on the agenda. And then there's some there's some stuff that Megan and I want to do like outside of racing but like some stuff in Acadia we want to make do some roots and FKT roots not the FKT itself but just some of these cool like roots that are outside the race setting. And um but yeah that's that's my experience and I loved every minute of it.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:23

Well and we love listening told that yeah story so perfectly like I feel like I've just lived it with you.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:28

So that's I'm glad you got it fresh because yeah um I just feel like it's so sharp in my mind right now that I'm gonna get this together as soon as you did.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:36

So thank you well thank you for for sharing um the emotions are just so real. It was lovely to hear you explain absolutely so thank you Jason for sharing for sure absolutely you're very welcome